There is a new Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) loan repayment and direct incentive opportunity for selected healthcare practitioners in state fiscal year 2013 and onward. This regards Alaska’s SHARP program, now in its third year of operation by the State of Alaska, the purpose of which is to recruit and retain healthcare professionals to serve in DHSS-designated healthcare service shortage areas. Entitled SHARP-II, this new opportunity was established to help ensure that residents throughout the state, including recipients of medical assistance and Medicare, have access to healthcare and that residents of rural areas of the state, in particular, experience improved access to healthcare services. SHARP-II is intended to help address the worsening shortage of certain healthcare professionals in the state by increasing the number and improving the distribution of healthcare professionals who provide direct patient care.
